Pieces
of the PastArtifacts,
Documents, and Primary Sources
from Letchworth Park History

Hall's
Sketches of the Portage Falls, 1843

Almost twenty years
before William Pryor Letchworth appeared on the scene, the Portage
Gorge attracted the attention of the famous 19th century geologist,
James Hall. Known by some as the "Father of Modern Geology",
Hall spent several years studying the rock strata in the cliffs
of the Portage gorge. His findings were were published by New
York State in 1843.

We recently heard
from Mr. Jim Pomeroy of Caneadea NY who was kind enough to send
us material he found in that 1843 report entitled Geology
of New York, Part IV (Survey of the Fourth Geological District)
by James Hall. As Jim writes, "The Fourth Geological
District included much or most of the Finger Lakes area and all
of Western New York. A copy of this report/book can be found
in the Genesee (Valley) Room at the SUNY Geneseo Library. James
Hall became a highly acclaimed geologist at a time when geology
was in its infancy and when many of its modern principles were
just being formulated. For a brief biography of Mr. Hall and
some perspective on his contributions, you can use this
link. In preparing his report Mr. Hall made a number of trips
to Western New York. Chapter 18 of the report is concerned with
the geology of the Genesee River in what we know today as Letchworth
State Park. Mrs. Hall apparently accompanied her husband on one
or more of these trips. She was an excellent illustrator and
she created a number of drawings appearing in the report. One
of those drawings, entitled "the Lower Falls" , appears
on page 368."

You will find below
two hand colored drawings from the report and some of the text
relating to the Lower Falls. We thank Jim Pomeroy for sharing
his research with us!

For later photographs
of the Portage Falls see our Historical Photo Album

This
sketch shows table rock (middle right) and Sugar Loaf (middle
left) Between them is what was the "Lower" Falls when
the Halls visit the area. The water has, at this time period,
already cut the famous flume and was no longer flowing over Table
rock as it had within the "memory of the oldest observer".
Compare
this image with an early 20th century view.

Excerpts from Geology of New York, Part
IV (Survey of the Fourth Geological District) by James
Hall pp. 368-371 (comments in parenthesis by Jim Pomeroy)

"nature in all her operations is constant and unremitting;
the least perceptible change within the memory of man becomes
a vast incomprehensible amount during the millions of ages through
which the earth has arrived at its present condition. If a river
channel can be widened and deepened to the amount of a few inches
within the recollection of any individual, may not a gorge of
one or two hundred feet be formed by the same process?

The sketch represents the lower falls of
the Genesee at Portage. The bed of the stream is bounded on either
side by cliffs three hundred feet high. Upon the left bank (he should have said "right" bank with regard
to the drawing since the drawing is looking upstream) is a
table of rock, which was formerly the river bed; and upon the
right bank (left bank in the drawing) is a conical island
of rock (Cathedral Rock), between which and the table
on the other side, the stream now flows.Within the memory
of the oldest observers, the river flowed almost wholly over
this table rock, and the isolated mass (Cathedral Rock) was
joined with the right bank of the river.

(the) depression (between Cathedral
Rock on the left and Table Rock on the right in the drawing)
increased in depth by the wearing action of the water and
the effects of freezing, so that long since, the great body of
water has flowed through this recent channel. During freshets
(floods), and at the breaking up of the ice in the spring,
the narrow channel on the right is filled and it then flows over
the table above to the depth of a few inches.

The principal modern effect illustrated
in this example, is the formation of the narrow channel on the
eastern side of the river bed, which now extends back from the
fall about one-eighth of a mile, being in its greatest depth
about eighty feet, and nearly the same in width. For the whole
of this distance it forms a violent rapid, and the action of
water and ice is constantly tending to increase its dimensions.
Within five years, the period of my own observations, it has
been deepened in some places five or six feet, and its southern
termination (the narrow channel with
its "violent rapid" upstream of the falls in the drawing)
has extended (upstream) several rods.

If all the changes here described have
taken place within the last forty years-if a river of the power
of the Genesee has in one place excavated a channel of these
dimensions-what results may we not ascribe to similar action
in larger bodies of water? It is not too much to say that the
deep gorge from Portage to Mount Morris has been worn in the
same way or that the chasm of the Niagara, from the falls to
Lewiston, has been excavated by the stream now flowing in its
bed. In making these estimates we are not to count time by years,
but by ages; and there is abundant testimony that years beyond
our comprehension have passed since the surface of the earth
assumed its present form, and since the rivers began to flow
in their present channels...."

Mrs.
Hall made this sketch from what would later be called "Inspiration
Point" . The Middle Falls is clearly visible near the center,
but includes a smaller cascade just above it. This is likely
to be the manmade dam built to power the sawmills and provide
adequate depth for a raft which ferried travelers across the
River. The Upper Falls appears in the distance and has a peculiar
shape. There is no Portage Bridge - that was still a decade away.

Construction
on the Genesee Valley Canal has not yet reached the eastern bank
(left). One can catch a glimpse of Erickson's Brook (Dehgayasoh
Creek) along the western bank (right).

In addition, Jim
also sent us some interesting comment which he has given us permission
to share.

What can we glean
and conclude from the drawing and from Mr. Hall's statements
in the report?

1. Many of principles of geology taken for granted today were
just being described and formulated by Mr. Hall and his contemporaries.

2. The Lower Falls area served as James Hall's laboratory.
His observations of the changes at the Lower Falls over a period
of five years and the observations relayed to him by people who
were apparently around the Genesee to note changes at the Lower
Falls over a period of 40 years (since about 1800), are what
he uses to illustrate and develop his broader hypothesis about
the development of gorges and canyons in general.

3. Apparently as late as 1840 or so the height of the
lip of the lower falls coupled with the narrowness of the channel
between Cathedral Rock and Table Rock was such that the water
level of the river during times of flood and ice jams could rise
to the very surface of Table Rock and flow over it again to some
extent as it once did.

4. Based upon the drawing, the lip of the primary cascade
comprising the Lower Falls has moved upstream at least 900 feet
since about 1840 (over a period of 165 years). (Note: The position
of the Lower Falls has been much less stable than those of the
Upper and Middle Falls. A trained geologist could no doubt explain
why and it would be interesting to hear such a person expound
on this topic. The hardness and thickness of rock comprising
the cap rock of each falls and those of the underlying rocks
are probably factors. Perhaps the rocks composing the Lower Falls
area are somewhat weaker. The ever present series of joints (fault
cracks) found in all layers of rock and the angle at which water
is flowing in relation to those joints can result in faster erosion/removal
of the rock layers too and these conditions may be more in play
at the Lower Falls.)

Again, we thank Jim
Pomeroy for his submission of material and an excellent historic
reference in the 1843 report on the Geology of New York, Part
IV which gives us more early information on the formation of
the gorge with its falls. This also adds another important figure
in the person of James Hall to our list of people that are of
importance to the Letchworth story. Mr Hall's work was recognized
in the form of a plaque that once was mounted on the rock surface
near the top of Eagle Hill that illustrates the rock strata of
the gorge. A replica of that original plaque was on display in
the park museum for several years.